Note: I wrote 2 posts today as our update was fairly large. So, be sure to read “Another day, another trip to the ER before this one.”

Check out this chart:

http://www.kidsgrowth.com/stages/viewgrowthcharts.cfm?id=GW036

Mira is currently 34 months old and weighs 23 lbs. Which means that she isn’t even on the chart. She is tiny in every sense of the word. She has now been in and out of the hospital since November 30th. That’s 12 days without playing, eating and drinking like she normally would. She has gotten considerably weaker as time has progressed.

Mira had 2 doctor appointments today: 1 with her neurosurgeon and the other with her normal doctor. The neurosurgeon felt like she is doing pretty well, but if she continues to vomit, we may need another cat scan (just to be sure all is well). The appointment with our family physician did not go as well. She is concerned the Mira has had the flu for 7 days and has lost considerable weight as a result. When you deal with head injuries, it’s important for kids to bounce back and Mira is still struggling.

Erika and the doctor had a good “brain storming” session (pun intended) and thought it would be a good idea to put Mira on anti-nausea medicine for the next 4 days. Our hope is that Mira will continue to eat and drink more as the weekend progresses. We can’t do much about her stools right now, but if we can keep her food down, she should improve.

So far this afternoon the plan is working well. Mira is talking, walking and playing like normal. She is eating and drinking pretty well (though not as much as normal). It’s crazy because she is too week to run or climb around like she was just 2 weeks ago. She’s also pretty unsteady on her feet (some due to muscle loss and the area they had to do surgery on was her motor center). But she is much more normal than usual.

Here is a picture of Mira taking a bath this evening after a massive blowout she had in the living room. We don’t even bother with wipes that much anymore, we just run her to the bath tub. So, she was just sitting and playing in the tub for quite a while tonight. She was really having a fun time:

Mira taking a bath tonight

She’s a cute little peanut and if Erika and I were to say one thing about today it’s that she really was in one of the better modes she’s been in in a while. She was all smiles today (a good infusion of IV fluids will do that).

I’m also testing a new video service on youtube. Let’s see if you can see this:

Here’s another picture of Mira playing some “modified tent” with me on the couch before she went to bed:

Mira playing tent on the couch

By the smiles on her face and the fact that she is eating you’d think that we are really happy. I’m still very, very concerned. Erika is less concerned than me. But Mira is still really weak and one bad day will put her back in the hospital.

The doctor says that she wants Mira to be doing 4 things by monday. If not, we may have to have some more serious discussions about how to get her back on track (I’m not even sure what this means, but I don’t want to have those discussions). Here’s Mira’s homework for the weekend:

1. Be eating better.
2. Be drinking more.
3. Be more active.
4. Be more talkative.

She’s doing all those things this afternoon and evening. With the anti-nausea medicine, let’s hope she continues to do so. Keep us in your thoughts.

I’ll send another update in a day or two as time permits.

Thanks again for all the nice gifts, cards, emails and posts. They are very helpful.

You should also know that today is our 6 year wedding anniversary. We just celebrated with a little kiss while writing this post…